Last week on Rock Daydream Nation, Peter Kerr and Martin Popoff broke down the history of Australian producer team Harry Vanda and George Young. You may recognize those names from the AC/DC albums in your collection. As I recently discovered, Vanda & Young were also responsible for the early Rose Tattoo records. What else have Vanda & Young brought to the music world? Watch this episode of Rock Daydream Nation and hear about their best works.
ROSE TATTOO – Rose Tattoo (1978 Albert Productions/1990 Repetoire Records “Limited Edition” CD reissue)
It is amazing how in North America, you can spend half a lifetime listening to music without ever running into an album by Rose Tattoo, Australia’s “Angry” exports. Legendary back home, but over here most of us just know them from “Nice Boys” by Guns N’ Roses. Some may also remember “Rock ‘n’ Roll Outlaw” by Keel. Both covers of Rose Tattoo tracks from their eponymous 1978 debut.
Led by the diminutive Angry Anderson, Rose Tattoo were produced by Harry Vanda and George Young, the same duo that helmed those early AC/DC classics among others. AC/DC comparisons are easy, but Rose Tattoo had two things going for them that other bands did not: 1) dominant slide guitar on every track, and 2) Angry Anderson himself. Don’t underestimate what you see. This guy has gritty power that elevates each song, and blows away the most famous cover version you’ve heard. Furthermore, the lyrics should be mentioned as different from what many bands were doing at the time: Gritty social observational lyrics, featuring real life stories of the streets (too wild to be true), with colourful characters such a drug dealers and tough guys.
Opening with the slide guitars of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Outlaw”, we can accuse another band who clearly ripped off Rose Tattoo in their early days, that being the Four Horsemen. If their “Tired Wings” didn’t take inspiration from this song, then I’ll be damned. The steady beat of Rose Tattoo is the perfect backing for drive this tough boastful rocker. Besides that beat and slide guitar, Angry Anderson’s voice is the magical ingredient. It sounds perpetually pushed to the edge, with a delightful squeak highlighting the emphatic parts. The powerhouse voice of Anderson automatically blows away Keel’s cover. Sorry Ron.
Guns N’ Roses came close to capturing the frenetic energy of “Nice Boys”, but not even Axl can bottle the energy of Angry Anderson. Now playing at a punk-like tempo, but with frantic slide guitar punctuation, “Nice Boys” easily kills the famed GN’R cover version. Hearing it, one gets the sense of “ah, this is what they were trying to do.”
One of the most menacing songs is “The Butcher and Fast Eddy”, slowing things down to that nocturnal crawl that AC/DC mastered with Bon Scott. Much as Scott filled his lyrics with true stories and colourful characters, Anderson tells a tale here like a novelist. “Across the river lived Fast Eddy, he was known to be treacherous, very mean. Even Eddy’s sweet young sister out on the streets, just a girl, barely fifteen.” Is Anderson the Bob Dylan of the dirty streets? He keeps the story going for six and a half spellbinding minutes, with the band mostly just playing the backing music, with a few picks scraped for noisy blasts. Angry Anderson’s voice and delivery carries it.
A stomping beat slams through one of the catchiest songs, “One of the Boys”. It’s an unsubtle ode to being a tough guy with a bunch of tough guys to back you up. Yet Angry’s words offer more than just boasting. OK sure, there’s boasting. “What you need is mates, staunch and true, hold out your back they’re gonna see you through. I don’t look for trouble but I won’t hide, I’ll jump on you if you don’t step aside.” There are also hints of deeper themes, such a loyalty.
Now at top speed, “Remedy” brings the punk rock tempos with a single heavy riff and killer hooks. The message here is simple: gimme rock and roll. It’s good for you. It’s healthy. Turn it up and blast it, and at this tempo you’ll probably be headbanging too. Top notch party rock on the edge of punk.
“Bad Boy for Love” uses the slide to bring a sleezy vibe to a slower groove. In this song, the main character got drunk, ripped up the town, and is now just being released from prison. Then, he went to go see his girl, whom he finds with another man. He kills them both and ends up back in the slammer. This is followed by a jailbreak and “a thousand guns” pursuing him. Not original, but delivered with bona fide sounding cred.
Keepings things to a breakneck pace, “T.V.” might get you pulled over for a speeding ticket. Angry’s voice is pushed to the limit again, and the slide guitar is as relentless as the tempo.
The one surprising song is the acoustic “Stuck On You”, featuring the line “like a rose tattoo”. The slide is now applied to various acoustic stringed instruments, and though it’s clearly the same band, the approach is very different. A more traditional blues direction does not temper Angry’s voice, still pushing it on the choruses and verses alike. Sometimes the lyrics verge on the absurd. “I had a fish named Sam, he lived in bowl. I heated up the water, so he wouldn’t get cold.” The lead character seems like a possible stage five loser, but it’s all open to interpretation. Either way, a great song with memorable words and a delivery impossible to duplicate.
Back to the punk-like rock, “Tramp” tells a more familiar story. It’s over and done real fast, and then we’re onto the epic closer “Astra Wally”. Rose Tattoo do best when they tell these kinds of stories. Astra Wally was a real cool cat, but he sounds like trouble to me. A drug dealer who samples his own wares, perhaps. “He don’t get shot, he go by O.D.” The slide guitar is once again in the spotlight, always fast and always tasty. That’s founding member Peter Wells on slide. Then we have Mick Cocks on lead and rhythm, Geordie Leach on bass and Dallas Royale on drums. When they get down and just lay down grooves like this, you can listen to them all day. “Astra Wally” is indeed a “super fun thing” as the lyrics state.
That’s a 5/5 star album right there. But we’re not through yet, because in 1990 this album was reissued with eight bonus tracks.
Up first are a batch of studio tracks. A B-side called “Never Too Loud” backed the “No Secrets” single in 1984. Regardless of the time difference, it does sound like it roughly fits in. It’s less frantic and tighter, with a slightly cleaner sound. Slightly. It’s still not anywhere near the polished rock starting to come out of North America at the time, and it maintains the slide and steady beat.
“I Had You First” is from 1981’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll King”. The punk vibe is first and foremost here, but the chorus is still a blast.
From 1982, “Fightin’ Sons” comes from the “It’s Gonna Work Itself Out” single, and it’s another vibe altogether. It has a bit of an early 70s vibe with a blues base. This is about going to war to fight for your country, but it’s more than that. It offers its own perspective; its own angle on the experience, gleaned from friends. The lyrics are more interesting than the music, perhaps.
The final studio track is “Snow Queen”. This one lies somewhere in the middle, a reliable rocker with an undeniable AC/DC beat. It’s the voice and slide that differentiate it. It’s low on hooks, but it bangs pretty hard.
The final four tracks are all live ones from an unspecified source. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Outlaw” and “Bad Boy for Love” feature Angry pushing it even further than on album. What a singer and what a pair of lungs. “Bad Boy for Love” is considerably longer than the album version, with loads more solos. “Rock ‘n’ Roll is King” and “Suicide City” are later tracks. An obvious single, “Rock ‘n’ Roll is King” is catchy through and through, with Angry still singing at top volume. Yet it’s all hooks. Finally, “Suicide City” is probably the most over the top song of them all, total punk rock frenzy.
In short: If you like rock and roll, get the album, and in particular this reissue.
5/5 stars
AC/DC – Blow Up Your Video (1988, 2003 Epic remaster)
By 1988, AC/DC had abandoned the bare-bones live-style music videos they had been doing for the last few years, and went into full-on productions. That became AC/DC’s trademark style from that point forward: the band playing in front of an eager crowd, and crazy stuff going on around them. Explosions, lights, wrecking balls or what have you — this all became part of the AC/DC music video experience, with Angus stomping around front and center. “Who Made Who” was really the first of the big AC/DC videos of this style. “Heatseeker” continued the tradition, with Angus popping out of a missile!
“Heatseeker” was an explosive first single, but unexpectedly, it was not really representative of Blow Up Your Video as an album. The highschool halls were filled with mutterings that the new AC/DC was “not as good” as past AC/DC, and that was troubling. Blow Up Your Video proved to be a transitional album, as many changes were afoot for AC/DC.
Malcolm Young had hit rock bottom, in the depths of a drinking problem that was starting to take its toll on the band on the concert stage. He was unable to tour. Angus and Malcolm’s nephew Stevie Young stepped up, and helped the boys out on tour. (Nobody would ever imagine that Stevie would have to do it permanently in 2014 when Malcolm withdrew from the band due to dementia.) Drummer Simon Wright wouldn’t last either. After the tour, he left to join Dio. It was also the last album to which Brian Johnson wrote any lyrics.
On the other hand, the chemistry with producers Harry Vanda and George Young (an older brother) had never been better. They helmed the classic AC/DC albums with Bon Scott, as well as three more recent songs on 1986’s Who Made Who. It was thought that they would bring that old time rock and roll slant back to AC/DC, so they were retained for Blow Up Your Video.
“Heatseeker”, being so upbeat and catchy with just a hint of a jangle in the guitars, was certainly promising. Like a one-two punch, the second single “That’s the Way I Wanna Rock N Roll” is next. The production holds it back, lacking punch (especially on the drums), but it’s a killer AC/DC good time rock and roller. Weak sonics aside, few AC/DC albums begin with two big winners like this right from the get-go.
Things get funky from there. “Meanstreak” does have a bit of funk to it, but suffers again from a muddy sound and too much echo on the vocals and drums. The further one delves into Blow Up Your Video, it seems like the songs aren’t so bad, just the sound. Same with “Go Zone”. There’s nothing wrong with the tune, but it seems to drag and fumble in a muddy puddle with the tires spinning. The side one closer “Kissin’ Dynamite” has a smoky prowling guitar and so sounds more at home. At least the side is salvaged by this last tune.
Since AC/DC offloaded their two singles right off the bat on side one, the second side is a much more turgid affair. “Nick of Time” has a blasts of guitars exactly where you want them, but lacks hooks. “Some Sin For Nuthin'” is better, because it’s back to that menacing dusky prowl that AC/DC do so well. Finally, AC/DC hit all the buttons with “Ruff Stuff”, a mid-tempo rocker with an actual chorus and verses that you can remember! “Two’s Up” is of similar quality, another decent album rocker good enough for rock and roll.
Finally, “This Means War” ends the album on a frantic, unfocused note. It has the energy and fire lacking on earlier songs, but has nothing else. Simon Wright is perfectly behind the beat, and Angus’ fingers sure are flying…but is that enough? For AC/DC, it is not.
The album sold a measly million copies in the US and failed to crack the top ten. Needing to do better, Bruce Fairbairn was called upon when needed for The Razors Edge. Since then, Blow Up Your Video has remained under its large, looming shadow, and for good reason.
2.5/5 stars
Welcome back to the Week of EPs! Each day this week, I’ll be checking out a variety of EP releases, both famed and obscure.
MONDAY: Aerosmith – The Other Side (1990)
TUESDAY: Wolfsbane – All Hell’s Breaking Loose Down at Little Kathy Wilson’s Place! (1990)
AC/DC – ’74 Jailbreak (1984 Epic)
As most AC/DC fans are aware, their Australian and American discographies differed greatly in tracklists and cover art. Australia also got one more record (T.N.T.) than we did. This amounted to a number of Bon Scott tracks that were left off the original American releases. It made sense to eventually release them, so in 1984, five tracks were released on the tenth anniversary EP, ’74 Jailbreak. Of note, none of these songs are actually from 1974.
The track “Jailbreak” itself didn’t become a hit until this compilation was released. It was originally on 1976’s Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap in Australia. It definitely sounds from that era, and it’s long been one of my favourites. I found that little riff irresistible, then and now. I love Bon Scott’s storytelling lyrics, still cool today. “Big man lying on the ground, with a hole in his body where his life had been.” And c’mon, you have to love the music video, or you have no sense of fun in your rock!
The next four tracks were all from High Voltage, another favourite album of mine. “You Ain’t Got a Hold on Me” is one of those slinky Bon Scott rockers. I like the spare riff and Angus’ bluesy playing. Uptempo “Show Business” is a wry dig on the business side of rock and roll. “You’re smoking butts, they smoke cigars.” Angus’ playing here is especially tasty as he takes his Gibson SG for a ride. Then “Soul Stripper” takes it to a dirty place. AC/DC return to that slinky territory they used to do so well with Bon. “Soul Stripper” is a highlight among highlights, with those quieter bass-driven verses. “Pulled out a knife and flashed it before me, stuck it in and turned it around.”
A cover of “Baby, Please Don’t Go” closes the EP on a frenetic extended jam. Bon shrieks as if in agony. The band blast away as only one of the greatest pure rock and roll bands can. This is rock and roll 101, your teachers are in class, so pay attention to Mr. Young and Mr. Young!
None of the songs on ’74 Jailbreak are outtake quality. I never fully understood who decided what songs were to be left off American releases and why. Some of these songs were singles in Australia! As mentioned, these are only some of the songs unreleased on American albums. There were more and they too were pretty damn good. They are “Stick Around” and “Love Song” from High Voltage, “R.I.P. (Rock in Peace)” from Dirty Deeds, “Crabsody in Blue” from Let There Be Rock, and “Cold Hearted Man” from Powerage. All these songs can be had on the Backtracks box set today.
5/5 stars
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